Almondine

Almondine is a cute story reminiscent of the Thumbelina fairytale. A young girl finds a baby inside of an almond and becomes the babies "mama." This book was a quick fun read for children starting their chapter book journey. I thought it did well to teach responsibility and portray how difficult it is to take care of a child - even an almond child. There were a few times when I was able to think that maybe Almondine being alive was more of a figment of her imagination - I think that could have been played up in the book so that it could be read in another perspective.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Almondine is the first book on a series about Almondine who is a little girl from an almond tree.
Alma (an 8 year old girl) discovers an amazing surprise when opening almonds at her grandmother's house in Spain - a little girl. Alma decides to call her Almondine and she adopts her as a mother.
Alma grows to love Almondine very much and at first struggles caring for her. Alma's mother grows concerned about Alma because she is suddenly shutting herself in her room alone and talking to herself.
Alma and Almondine have some great times together and many little adventures that children will delight in.
I was sad with the ending but happy aswell for different reasons. I can't wait to read the rest of these books very soon and find out more about Almondines adventures.
The illustrations are very beautiful and accompany the book very well. This book brought back the magic of childhood to me.

The book was a nice story to read. The fact that everything happened that fast made me have the feeling that this could have more to say about the characters and about the entire world of Almondine.
The book resonates with the Arrietty animation as well as with old fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen: Thumbelina. Almondine is born from an almond from Alma's desire, while at play, in vacation. To see Alma so concerned to watch over Almondine and how her feelings grew for the small being was very endearing.
I think that it was a little extreme or maybe this was what the author was following: Alma’s parents were very careless. They have seen some awkward behavior and some extreme emotions at their daughter but neither tried to see more than the surface. Even when Alma tries to confess to her mother and grandmother about Almondine, both women consider the little girl’s feelings as a joke.

The land of childhood never loses its mystery, regardless of age. We should learn more from the children, all the things that the society or the environment made us change or hide, all the joy and sadness that should be either hidden or simulated.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminded me so much of the movie "Arrietty" by miyazaki and those old magical stories with little fairies. It was so cute with the beautiful illustrations that made the story so charming to read.

The story is about an eight years old girl "Alma" who finds a little baby girl in an almond and names her Almondine. From this point of the story we are the witness of how a little girl could cope with such a heavy responsibility of taking care of a baby. Alma's life and comportment will change with this little creature that consider her now as her mother.

The thing that I didn't like about this book was the behavior of Alma's parents and her mom was so annoying with her critical attitude towards her daughter's change of behavior.

I'm sure that this book will be loved by many little girls and it will also inspire a movie for kids.

Mayoritas gadis kecil suka main boneka dan rumah-rumahan. Bahkan setelah dewasa aku masih menyalurkan inner child ini dengan hobby mendandani BJD. Tapi merawat anak beneran? Hmm itu lain cerita.
Alma jelas terlalu muda untuk menjadi seorang Ibu. Tapi saat dia menemukan seorang bayi mini didalam biji Almond, dia tak bisa tinggal diam.

Awalnya aku tidak mengharapkan sesuatu yang kompleks dari buku dengan ilustrasi yang sangat cute ini. Tapi diluar dugaan, ini mengingatkanku pada pengalaman dengan anak pertamaku. Bagaimana ibu baru belajar dan mengasah nalurinya berdasar petunjuk alami dari si bayi. Bagaimana Alma belajar mengetahui mana makanan dan minuman yang sehat untuk Almondine, perubahan tubuh dan psikologinya. Buku ini menawarkan pesan moral yang lebih kompleks bagi anak-anak untuk memahami orang tua mereka.
Aku suka sekali buku ini dan tak sabar untuk mengintip petualangan Almondine saat jauh dari Alma.

Terimakasih pada Netgalley yang telah menyesuaikan buku ini until ditukar dengan review yang jujur.
#Almondine #NetGalley